JP2020201548A - Job management device, job management method and job management program - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a job management device capable of instructing printing in an appropriate order without complicating a user work even in a job requiring follow-up printing, and a job management method and job management program thereof.SOLUTION: The job management device for managing the print jobs is provided with a job acquisition section for acquiring a printing job, an overlapping determination section which analyses the acquired printing job and determines overlapping of a plurality of printing objects contained in the printing job, a printing order decision section which decides a printing order of the plurality of printing objects on the basis of the determined overlapping, and a printing instruction section which generates and outputs divided jobs for respectively instructing printing of the printing objects on the basis of the decided printing order.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

The present invention relates to a job management device, a job management method, and a job management program, and more particularly to a job management device in a printing system for performing additional printing, a job management method in the job management device, and a job management program operating in the job management device. ..

In recent years, as special color toners that express colors other than CMYK, transparent toners that express gloss, toners of gold (Gold), silver (Silver), black (Black), white (White), etc. (hereinafter, toners other than CMYK) A printing device equipped with (collectively referred to as GSBW toner) has been released. This printing device enables printing of special colors such as gold, silver, black, and white by creating data to be printed with GSBW toner on a CMYK plane.

Here, a document including an image formed of CMYK toner and an image formed of a toner other than CMYK such as GSBW toner can be printed by one printing device including both CMYK toner and GSBW toner. However, this printing device is expensive due to its complicated structure and control. Therefore, additional printing (also referred to as overprinting) is performed in which a printing device provided with ordinary CMYK toner and a printing device provided with GSBW toner are combined, and the printed matter printed by one printing device is further printed by the other printing device. It is done.

For example, in Patent Document 1 below, a printing apparatus including one of a CMYK toner or a toner other than the CMYK toner, and when the print data is received, analyzes the print data to analyze the print data other than the CMYK toner or the CMYK toner. If it is determined whether printing processing by another printing apparatus including the other of the toners of the above is necessary and it is determined that printing processing by the other printing apparatus is necessary, the print content specified by the print data is selected. Based on this, it is determined whether the printing process by the self-printing device is first, and if it is determined that the printing process by the self-printing device is first, the printing process is executed according to the print data, and the other printing device is used. When the printing data is transferred by instructing the printing device to be saved and it is determined that the printing process by the self-printing device is performed later, the printing data is saved as a save job and the other printing devices are saved. , The print data is transferred by instructing the output, and the print process is executed according to the save job for the printed matter whose print process is executed by the other printing apparatus.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2014-21876

For example, as a method of reprinting with CMYK toner on paper printed with GSBW toner, a method of creating a manuscript in which a GSBW image and a CMYK image are superimposed by using the layer function of an application can be considered.

However, in this method, when it is necessary for the user to instruct printing separately for a job containing only GSBW data and a job containing only CMYK data, and it is necessary to consider the order in which the images are superimposed, the CMYK image is used. The user's work becomes complicated because the workflow must be processed while considering the printing order, such as printing of → printing of GSBW image → printing of CMYK image. In addition, since it is necessary to actually output GSBW data as CMYK data in PDL (Page Description Language) in a job, if PDL is output as one job, the GSBW data may be mixed with CMYK data to be overprinted. There is sex.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and the main object thereof is to instruct printing in an appropriate order without complicating the user's work even for a job requiring additional printing. The purpose is to provide a job management device, a job management method, and a job management program that can be used.

One aspect of the present invention is a job management device, which analyzes a job acquisition unit that acquires a print job and the acquired print job, and determines overlap determination of a plurality of print objects included in the print job. A print order determination unit that determines the print order of the plurality of print objects based on the unit and the determined overlap, and a division job that instructs printing of each print object based on the determined print order. It is characterized by including a print instruction unit for generating and outputting.

One aspect of the present invention is a job management method in a job management device that manages print jobs, in which a job acquisition process for acquiring the print job and a plurality of acquired print jobs are analyzed and included in the print job. The overlap determination process for determining the overlap of the print objects, the print order determination process for determining the print order of the plurality of print objects based on the determined overlap, and each of the determined print orders. It is characterized in that a print instruction process for generating and outputting a split job instructing printing of the print object is executed.

One aspect of the present invention is a job management program that operates in a job management device that manages print jobs, and a job acquisition process for acquiring the print job and the acquired print job are transmitted to the control unit of the job management device. An overlap determination process that analyzes and determines the overlap of a plurality of print objects included in the print job, and a print order determination process that determines the print order of the plurality of print objects based on the determined overlap. It is characterized in that a print instruction process for generating and outputting a division job instructing printing of each of the print objects is executed based on the print order.

According to the job management device, the job management method, and the job management program of the present invention, it is possible to instruct printing in an appropriate order without complicating the user's work even if the job requires additional printing. ..

The reason is that the job management device that manages print jobs has a job acquisition unit that acquires print jobs and an overlap determination unit that analyzes the acquired print jobs and determines the overlap of multiple print objects included in the print jobs. , A print order determination unit that determines the print order of a plurality of print objects based on the determined overlap, and a split job that instructs printing of each print object based on the determined print order are generated and output. This is because a print instruction unit is provided.

It is a schematic diagram which shows the structure of the printing system which concerns on one Example of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the trafficking data generation terminal which concerns on one Example of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the output instruction terminal which concerns on one Example of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the printing apparatus which concerns on one Example of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the print setting screen displayed on the manuscript data generation terminal which concerns on one Example of this invention. This is an example of an apparatus color material information data table used for job management according to an embodiment of the present invention. This is an example of a color material data table used for job management according to an embodiment of the present invention. This is an example of a printing device data table used for job management according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process (device information acquisition process) of the output instruction terminal which concerns on one Example of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the shared printer setting screen displayed on the output instruction terminal which concerns on one Example of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the printing apparatus addition screen displayed on the output instruction terminal which concerns on one Example of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process (printing apparatus addition process) of the output instruction terminal which concerns on one Example of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process (printing order determination process) of the output instruction terminal which concerns on one Example of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the additional printing workflow construction screen displayed on the output instruction terminal which concerns on one Example of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process (workflow construction process) of the output instruction terminal which concerns on one Example of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process (print instruction process) of the output instruction terminal which concerns on one Example of this invention.

As shown in the background technology, printing devices equipped with GSBW toner have been released, and when printing a document containing an image formed of CMYK toner and an image formed of GSBW toner, normal CMYK toner is used. A printing device provided is combined with a printing device provided with GSBW toner, and additional printing is performed in which a printed matter printed by one printing device is further printed by the other printing device.

For example, as a method of reprinting on paper printed with GSBW toner with CMYK toner, a method of creating a manuscript in which a GSBW image and a CMYK image are superimposed by using the layer function of the application can be considered. Then, the user needs to print the job separately for GSBW data only and the CMYK data only job, and the workflow must be processed while considering the printing order, which makes the user's work complicated. .. Further, in the job, it is necessary to actually output the GSBW data as CMYK data in PDL, so if the PDL is output as one job, the GSBW data may be mixed with the CMYK data to be reprinted.

Therefore, in one embodiment of the present invention, the job management device that manages the print job analyzes the acquired print job with the job acquisition unit that acquires the print job, and overlaps a plurality of print objects included in the print job. The overlap determination unit that determines the print order, the print order determination unit that determines the print order of a plurality of print objects based on the determined overlap, and the division that instructs printing of each print object based on the determined print order. A print instruction unit for generating and outputting a job is provided.

As a result, even if the job requires additional printing, it is possible to instruct printing in an appropriate order without complicating the user's work.

In order to explain one embodiment of the present invention in more detail, the job management device, the job management method, and the job management program according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 16. FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of a printing system of this embodiment, and FIGS. 2 to 4 are block diagrams showing configurations of a trafficking data generation terminal, an output instruction terminal, and a printing device, respectively. .. Further, FIG. 5 is an example of a screen displayed on the submitted data generation terminal of this embodiment, FIGS. 6 to 8 are examples of tables used for job management of this embodiment, and FIG. 9 is an example of a table used for job management of this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the process of the trafficking data generation terminal of this Example. Further, FIGS. 10, 11 and 14 are examples of screens displayed on the output instruction terminal of this embodiment, and FIGS. 12, 13, 15 and 16 are flowcharts showing processing of the output instruction terminal of this embodiment. Is.

As shown in FIG. 1, the printing system 10 of this embodiment is composed of a trafficking data generation terminal 20, an output instruction terminal 30, a plurality of printing devices 40, and the like, which are Ethernet (registered trademark), token ring, and FDDI. It is connected via a communication network 50 such as LAN (Local Area Network) or WAN (Wide Area Network) defined by a standard such as (Fiber-Distributed Data Interface). Hereinafter, each device will be described.

[Draft data generation terminal]
The submitted data generation terminal 20 is a computer device such as a personal computer, and transmits a print job to the output instruction terminal 30. As shown in FIG. 2A, the submitted data generation terminal 20 includes a control unit 21, a storage unit 25, a network I / F unit 26, a display unit 27, an operation unit 28, and the like.

The control unit 21 is composed of a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 22 and a memory such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) 23 and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 24. The CPU 22 stores a control program stored in the ROM 23 and the storage unit 25. By expanding and executing the data in the RAM 24, the operation of the entire submitted data generation terminal 20 is controlled. Further, as shown in FIG. 2B, the control unit 21 (CPU 22) executes an OS (Operating System) 21a, a manuscript creation application 21b, a printer driver 21c, and the like.

OS21a is Windows (registered trademark), macOS (registered trademark), Android (registered trademark), etc., and enables the manuscript creation application 21b and the printer driver 21c to operate on the submitted data generation terminal 20.

The manuscript creation application 21b is software (for example, Adobe (registered trademark) Illustrator) that performs text creation, table calculation, image processing, etc., and is created by the manuscript creation application 21b by reading the printer driver 21c at the time of printing instruction. , Transfer the original data including a plurality of print objects to the printer driver 21c.

The printer driver 21c describes the manuscript data created by the manuscript creation application 21b on pages such as a print job (PJL (Printer Job Language), PS (PostScript), PCL (Printer Control Language)) in a language that can be interpreted by the printing device 40. It is converted into PDL (Page Description Language) data or PDF (Portable Document Format) data described in a language. The print setting information set on the print setting screen of the printer driver 21c is added to this print job.

The storage unit 25 is composed of an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), an SSD (Solid State Drive), or the like, and is a program for the CPU 22 to control each unit, information on the processing function of the own device, and manuscript data created by the manuscript creation application 21b. , The print job created by the printer driver 21c, the printing device data table, the color material data table, and the like are stored.

The network I / F unit 26 is composed of a NIC (Network Interface Card), a modem, or the like, connects the submitted data generation terminal 20 to the communication network 50, sends a print job to the output instruction terminal 30, or outputs an output instruction terminal. Acquire device information from 30.

The display unit 27 is composed of a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic EL (electroluminescence) display device, and the like, and displays a manuscript creation screen of the manuscript creation application 21b, a print setting screen of the printer driver 21c, and the like.

The operation unit 28 is composed of a mouse, a keyboard, and the like, and performs operations such as creating a document using the document creation application 21b, setting printing conditions using the printer driver 21c (designating color materials and printing devices, registering spot colors), and the like. To enable.

[Output instruction terminal]
The output instruction terminal 30 is a job management device that manages print jobs and instructs the print device 40 to print. As shown in FIG. 3A, the output instruction terminal 30 includes a control unit 31, a storage unit 35, a network I / F unit 36, a display unit 37, an operation unit 38, and the like.

The control unit 31 is composed of a CPU 32 and a memory such as a ROM 33 or a RAM 34. The CPU 32 expands a control program stored in the ROM 33 or the storage unit 35 into the RAM 34 and executes the operation of the entire output instruction terminal 30. Control.

The control program includes a workflow application (job management program) that can control how the manuscript is impositioned, output, and post-processed. In this workflow application, a plurality of output targets are included. The printing device 40 can be registered. Further, the output instruction terminal 30 can create a hot folder capable of receiving print jobs or a virtual printer that can be shared on the communication network 50, and any printing device can be used for the hot folder and the virtual printer. A plurality of 40 units can be assigned. A print job input from a virtual printer or a hot folder can instruct the printing device 40 to print according to the settings of the workflow application.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3B, the control unit 31 functions as a table creation unit 31a, a job acquisition unit 31b, an overlap determination unit 31c, a print order determination unit 31d, a print instruction unit 31e, and the like. ..

The table creation unit 31a acquires the color material information of each printing device 40, and creates a table in which the printing device 40 and the color material are associated with each other. At that time, the color material information of the printing device assigned to the virtual printer or hot folder that can be shared on the network can be collectively acquired for each virtual printer or hot folder.

The job acquisition unit 31b acquires a print job directly from the submitted data generation terminal 20 or via a virtual printer or a hot folder.

The overlap determination unit 31c analyzes the print job acquired by the job acquisition unit 31b, and determines the overlap of a plurality of print objects included in the print job. For example, the print range of each print object (the range defined by the rectangle circumscribing the print object) is extracted, and when the print ranges overlap, it is determined that the print objects overlap. Further, even if the print ranges of the print objects overlap, if the drawing ranges after rendering (the range defined by the shape of the print objects themselves) do not overlap, it is determined that the print objects do not overlap. In the print job, the shape, size, arrangement, etc. of the print object are defined, and from this information, the print range defined by the rectangle circumscribing the print object and the drawing range defined by the shape of the print object itself. Can be identified. Therefore, it is not necessary for the output instruction terminal 30 to actually perform the rendering of the print job, but the output instruction terminal 30 may be provided with an image processing unit and actually perform the rendering. Further, in the overlap determination unit 31c, the color material used for printing the print object is a color material other than CMYK based on the spot color setting of the print job (PDF / PDL) or the information (description content) described in the PDL. Based on the judgment result, the print objects can be classified according to the printing device, and the classified print objects can be compared with each other. Further, the overlap determination unit 31c determines that the print objects overlap when the print object printed by one printing device and the print object printed by another printing device overlap (these print objects are determined by one printing device). If it can be printed, it cannot be judged as overlapping). For example, when there is a printer 1 equipped with CMYK toner and a printer 2 equipped with GSBW toner in the printing system 10, when the CMYK objects overlap, it is not determined that they overlap, and the CMYK object and the GSBW object overlap. If so, it is determined that there is an overlap. More specifically, when there is a GSBW object on the CMYK object and another CMYK object is on the CMYK object, it is determined that the three print objects are overlapped.

The print order determination unit 31d determines the print order of a plurality of print objects based on the overlap determined by the overlap determination unit 31c. At that time, when the print order determination unit 31d has a plurality of printing devices equipped with the same color material and a print object having a single color of the color material exists in the print job, the print object is different from the other print objects. In the case of overlapping, the printing device that prints the print objects can be specified based on the stacking order of the print objects, and the print order can be determined. For example, if there is a printer 1 equipped with G + CMYK toner and a printer 2 equipped with GSBW toner in the printing system 10, the printing job includes a G object, and the G object and the C object overlap, the G object is Both printer 1 and printer 2 can print, but if the G object is printed by the printer 1, the C object cannot be printed. Therefore, the G object is printed by the printer 2 and the C object is printed by the printer 1. Determine the print order. Further, the print order determination unit 31d can set a plurality of print objects that do not overlap and can be output by the same printing device in the same print order. For example, in the printing system 10, there is a printer 1 equipped with CMYK toner and a printer 2 equipped with GSBW toner, the first CMYK object and the GSBW object overlap, and the second CMYK object and the GSBW object do not overlap. In this case, the first CMYK object and the second CMYK object are set in the same printing order so that the printer 1 prints at the same time.

The print instruction unit 31e generates and outputs a division job instructing printing of each print object based on the print order determined by the print order determination unit 31d. At that time, the print instruction unit 31e can display a print workflow representing the determined print order, and can display a preview of the output result in each printing device in the print workflow. Further, when instructing a plurality of printing devices to print, the print instruction unit 31e outputs a division job to the subsequent printing device after the division job of the printing device in the previous stage is completed, or divides the job into the printing device in the subsequent stage. The job can be output as a save job, and a banner page job indicating which printing device is used for additional printing can be output. Further, when the print object determined to have overlap is not a transparent object, the print instruction unit 31e prints the overlapped portion of the print object having the print order first. You can generate split jobs that are excluded from the target.

The table creation unit 31a, the job acquisition unit 31b, the overlap determination unit 31c, the print order determination unit 31d, and the print instruction unit 31e may be configured as hardware, and the control unit 31 may be configured as the table creation unit 31a and the job acquisition unit. It is configured as a job management program that functions as a unit 31b, an overlap determination unit 31c, a print order determination unit 31d, and a print instruction unit 31e (particularly, a job acquisition unit 31b, an overlap determination unit 31c, a print order determination unit 31d, and a print instruction unit 31e). However, the job management program may be executed by the CPU 32.

The storage unit 35 is composed of an HDD, an SSD, or the like, a program for the CPU 32 to control each unit, a print job received from the submitted data generation terminal 20, and a table created by the table creation unit 31a (device color material information described later). Save the data table etc.). Further, the storage unit 35 includes a printing device order recording unit, and records the order of the printing devices. Further, the storage unit 35 includes a virtual queue for each printing device 40, and stores the divided jobs in the virtual queue according to the instruction of the print instruction unit 31e. The virtual queue is composed of a buffer and a controller, and holds data (divided jobs) instructing printing in a first-in, first-out list structure, and is a device queue of the printing device 40 in order from the divided jobs stored first. Is output to.

The network I / F unit 36 is composed of a NIC, a modem, or the like, connects the output instruction terminal 30 to the communication network 50, receives a print job from the submitted data generation terminal 20, and receives device information and colors from the printing device 40. The material information is acquired, and the division job is transmitted to the printing device 40. In this embodiment, the print job is transmitted from the submitted data generation terminal 20 to the output instruction terminal 30 via the communication network 50, but a portable storage medium such as USB (Universal Serial Bus) is used. It may be used so that it can be input to the output instruction terminal 30.

The display unit 37 is composed of a liquid crystal display device, an organic EL display device, and the like, and displays various screens of a workflow application (for example, a shared printer setting screen, a printing device addition screen, and a reprint workflow construction screen, which will be described later).

The operation unit 38 is composed of a mouse, a keyboard, and the like, and enables operations such as setting a shared printer using a workflow application and confirming a reprint workflow.

[Printing device]
The printing device 40 is an MFP (Multi-Functional Peripherals) or the like including a printer controller and a print engine, and executes a printing process based on a division job received from the output instruction terminal 30. In this embodiment, a plurality of printing devices 40 are connected to the printing system 10, and the plurality of printing devices 40 include a printing device 40 capable of printing with CMYK toner and a toner other than CMYK (for example, GSBW toner). Includes a printing device 40 capable of printing in. As shown in FIG. 4, the printing device 40 includes a control unit 41, a storage unit 45, a network I / F unit 46, a display operation unit 47, an image processing unit 48, an image forming unit 49, and the like.

The control unit 41 is composed of a CPU 42 and a memory such as a ROM 43 or a RAM 44. The CPU 42 controls the operation of the entire printing device 40 by expanding the control program stored in the ROM 43 or the storage unit 45 into the RAM 44 and executing the control program. To do. For example, device information, color material information, and the like are provided in response to an information acquisition request from the output instruction terminal 30.

The storage unit 45 is composed of an HDD, an SSD, or the like, and stores a program for the CPU 42 to control each unit, information on a processing function of the own device, and the like. Further, the storage unit 45 includes a device queue, and stores the divided job received from the output instruction terminal 30 in the device queue according to the instruction of the control unit 41. The device queue is also composed of a buffer and a controller, and holds data (divided jobs) instructing printing in a first-in, first-out list structure. The image processing unit 48 and image forming are performed in order from the previously stored divided jobs. Processed by part 49.

The network I / F unit 46 is composed of a NIC, a modem, or the like, connects the printing device 40 to the communication network 50, receives a split job from the output instruction terminal 30, and provides device information and color material information to the output instruction terminal 30. Or send.

The display operation unit 47 is a touch panel or the like provided with a pressure-sensitive operation unit (touch sensor) in which transparent electrodes are arranged in a grid pattern on the display unit, displays various screens related to printing processing, and performs various operations related to printing. to enable.

The image processing unit 48 functions as a RIP unit (Raster Image Processor), translates a division job to generate intermediate data, and performs rendering to generate bitmap format image data (this series of processing is RIP processing). Called.). In addition, the image processing unit 48 performs screen processing, gradation correction, density balance adjustment, thinning, halftone dot processing, and the like on the image data, if necessary. Then, the image processing unit 48 outputs the generated image data to the image forming unit 49.

The image forming unit 49 executes a printing process based on the image data. The image forming unit 49 includes an exposure unit that irradiates and exposes laser light based on image data, a photoconductor drum, a developing unit, a charging unit, a photoconductor cleaning unit, and a primary transfer roller, and includes CMYK or GSBW. An image forming portion that forms a toner image of each color, an intermediate belt that is rotated by a roller and functions as an intermediate transfer body that conveys the toner image formed by the image forming portion to paper, and a toner formed on the intermediate belt. A secondary transfer roller that transfers the image to the paper, a fixing unit that fixes the toner image transferred to the paper, and a transport unit such as a paper feed roller, a resist roller, a loop roller, a reversing roller, and a paper ejection roller that transport the paper. And so on.

Note that FIGS. 1 to 4 are examples of the printing system 10 of this embodiment, and the configuration and control of each device can be appropriately changed as long as the job management of this embodiment is possible. For example, in FIGS. 1 to 4, the output instruction terminal 30 is configured to operate as a job management device, but any printing device 40 is operated as a job management device (a job management program is executed in the CPU 42 of the printing device 40). It may be configured.

Hereinafter, the operation of each device of the printing system 10 of this embodiment will be described.

<Operation of submitted data generation terminal 20>
The submission data generation terminal 20 performs print job generation, print setting, and print job transmission.

[Print job generation]
When the user creates the manuscript data, it is created using a general-purpose drawing application such as Illustrator. Such a drawing application creates manuscript data by arranging print objects (hereinafter, simply referred to as objects) such as characters, figures, and images in a print manuscript and specifying the color of each object. Can be done. When specifying the color of the object, a spot color name is set for the object to be printed with a color material other than CMYK. As the spot color name, a general-purpose name such as Pantone may be used, but in this embodiment, the original spot color name named by the user is set. When the manuscript data is submitted to a printing company, a method of inputting the manuscript data created by the user to the output instruction terminal 30 using a portable storage medium such as USB or Web submission is used. In this case as well, the color material to be printed in the same manner shall be set by the spot color name.

[Print settings and print job transmission]
FIG. 5 shows an example of a print setting screen of the printer driver 21c when a print job is transmitted from the submitted data generation terminal 20 to the output instruction terminal 30. Although the method of setting with the printer driver 21c will be described in this embodiment, the printing job transmission method may be direct printing from the hot folder, and the same setting as the printer driver 21c can be made on the print setting screen of the hot folder. And. Further, it is assumed that the same settings as those of the printer driver 21c can be set when the print job is saved as a save job in the output instruction terminal 30 and printed.

When a print job is transmitted to the output instruction terminal 30, which color material is the spot color name given to each object of the print job is set on the printer driver 21c. Therefore, first, the "device" on the print setting screen 60 is set. When the "information acquisition" button is pressed, the printer driver 21c performs the device information acquisition process shown in FIG. First, the printer driver 21c acquires the color material information of each printing device 40 assigned to the virtual printer from the output instruction terminal 30 (S101). This color material information can be acquired by using an I / F such as a MIB (Management Information Base).

FIG. 6 is a device color material information data table in which the printer driver 21c associates the printing device 40 with the color material mounted on the printing device 40, which is acquired from the output instruction terminal 30. The "printing device" in the device color material information data table indicates the printing device 40 assigned to the virtual printer, and the "printing device ID" is an ID for identifying each printing device 40. Further, the "color material" indicates a color material mounted on each printing device 40, and the "color material ID" is an ID for identifying each color material.

Next, the printer driver 21c updates the color material data table by using the device color material information data table (S102), and displays it in the combo box of the color material setting column of the print setting screen 60 (S103). FIG. 7 is a color material data table used when displaying the color material setting of the printer driver 21c. In this embodiment, "Black" is mounted on two types of printing devices 40, and both are described as being treated as the same color material, but they are managed as different color materials by different color material IDs. May be good.

Next, the printer driver 21c updates the printing device data table using the device color material information data table (S104), and displays it in the combo box of the printing device setting column of the print setting screen 60 (S105). FIG. 8 is a printing device data table used for displaying in the printing device setting of the printer driver 21c. In this printing device data table, "Auto Select" is prepared separately from the device information acquired from the printing device 40, and when "Auto Select" is selected, the color material is displayed on the output instruction terminal 30. The printing device 40 is automatically determined depending on the order in which printing is performed. The printing device ID for identifying the "Auto Select" uses a value previously agreed with the output instruction terminal 30, but may be acquired at the time of device information acquisition.

A print setting method using the print setting screen 60 will be specifically described.

(1) When specifying the color material to be printed for the object, enter the spot color name set for the object of the original data in the spot color name setting field of the print setting screen 60.

(2) Next, the color material to be used when printing the object specified by the spot color name is selected from the combo box in the color material setting field of the print setting screen 60.

(3) When an arbitrary color material is selected in the color material setting field of the print setting screen 60, the printing device equipped with the color material is displayed in a combo box in the printing device setting field so as to be selectable. In the printing system 10 of this embodiment, when one printing device is equipped with the color material, the device name is displayed, and when there are a plurality of printing devices, "Auto Select" is displayed by default, and the user pulls down the menu. Then, select and specify the printing device on which the color material is mounted.

(4) After selecting "spot color name", "color material", and "printing device", these can be added to the print settings by pressing the "add" button. If a setting is added by mistake, it can be deleted by selecting the setting from the list and clicking the "Delete" button.

Then, (1) to (4) are repeated until the registration of all the coloring materials is completed. Objects for which no color material is specified are controlled as being output in CMYK.

<Operation of output instruction terminal 30>
The output instruction terminal 30 registers the printing device in the workflow application, sets the shared printer, determines the printing order, constructs the additional printing workflow, and gives the printing instruction.

[Printing device registration and shared printer settings in workflow application]
A workflow application is installed in the output instruction terminal 30, and the workflow application can generate a virtual printer, assign a plurality of printing devices 40 to the virtual printer, and create and execute a printing workflow such as cluster printing. .. In this embodiment, the shared printer is generated as a means for receiving the print job, but other means such as a hot folder may be used.

The workflow application of the printing system 10 of this embodiment displays the shared printer setting screen 61 as shown in FIG. 10, and enables registration of color material information when the printing device 40 is assigned to the shared printer.

On the shared printer setting screen 61, the name of the shared printer can be set in the setting field of the shared printer name, and the set name can be referred to as a shared printer from the network, and a print job can be received. ..

A list of printing devices 40 assigned to the shared printer is displayed in the printing device list, and when the "add button" is pressed, the printing device addition screen 62 of FIG. 11 is displayed, and another printing device 40 is added. Can be done. Further, the printing device 40 selected from the printing device list can be deleted by selecting the printing device 40 in the printing device list and pressing the "delete button".

In the printing device addition setting field of the printing device addition screen 62 of FIG. 11, the name of the printing device 40 to be added to the printing device name setting field is specified. In addition, the IP (Internet Protocol) address of the printing device 40 to be added can be entered in the printing device IP address setting field, and by pressing the "color material information acquisition" button, the setting field of the color material list can be entered. Can be reflected in.

The color material information of the printing apparatus 40 can be registered in the setting field of the color material list, and "CMYK" or "special color material" can be selected in the color material type name setting field. "CMYK" means a printing device 40 capable of printing in CMYK mixed colors, and "special color material" means a printing device 40 that prints a special color material such as gold, silver, and black and white. When the special color material is selected, the color material mounted on the printing device 40 can be input in the color material type setting field.

Then, when the printing device 40 and the color material information are registered in the output instruction terminal 30, the printing device ID and the color material ID are assigned to each of the registered printing device 40 and the color material, and recorded in the device color material information data table. To do. At this time, when the same color material is mounted on different printing devices 40, it is possible to determine that the color material ID is the same color material by assigning the same ID.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the printing device addition process, which is executed by the table creation unit 31a.

First, a printing device ID is generated for the printing device 40 added to the setting field of the printing device name on the printing device addition screen 62 (S201). Next, with reference to the device color material information data table, it is determined whether or not the same color material as the color material input in the color material list is mounted on the other printing device 40 (S202). If the other printing device 40 does not have the same color material (No in S202), a unique color material ID is generated (S203), and if the other printing device 40 has the same color material (Yes in S202), The color material ID of the same color material of the other printing apparatus 40 is acquired (S204). Then, the printing device ID, the printing device, the color material ID, and the color material are added to the device color material information data table (S205), and if the registration of all the color materials is not completed (No in S206), the process returns to S202. And repeat the same process.

[Print order determination process]
FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a print order determination process by the workflow application, which is executed by the workflow application (job acquisition unit 31b, overlap determination unit 31c, print order determination unit 31d).

First, when the job acquisition unit 31b acquires a print job described in PDL or the like from the submitted data generation terminal 20, the overlap determination unit 31c analyzes the PDL (S301), and the color material is set in the print job. If the color material is not set in the print job (No in S302), the series of processes is terminated.

On the other hand, when the color material is set in the print job (Yes in S302), the overlap determination unit 31c is the color material setting list (the list of the spot color name, the color material, and the printing device set on the print setting screen 60). Is obtained from the PDL (S303), and an object matching the spot color name specified in the color material setting list is extracted (S304). An object for which a spot color is not specified is determined to be a CMYK object.

Next, the overlap determination unit 31c classifies the extracted objects according to the printing device (S305), and compares the objects classified according to the printing device (S306). Then, it is determined whether there are objects having overlapping print ranges (S307), and if there are objects with overlapping print ranges (Yes in S307), it is determined whether there are objects having overlapping drawing ranges after rendering (S307). S308). When an object printed by one printing device 40 and an object printed by another printing device 40 overlap, it can be determined that the objects overlap.

When it is determined that there is an object whose drawing range after rendering overlaps (Yes in S308), the print order determination unit 31d determines that it is necessary to control the print order, and the color material of the object is attached. The printing device 40 is specified (S309). At that time, when there are a plurality of printing devices 40 equipped with the same color material and an object having a single color of the color material exists in the print job, if the object overlaps with another object, the overlapping order of the objects is used. Based on this, the printing device 40 that prints the object can be specified.

Next, the print order determination unit 31d determines whether the order of the printing devices 40 of the compared objects is recorded in the printing device order recording unit (S310), and if the order is recorded (Yes in S310). ), The print order control number is acquired from the printing device order recording unit (S311), and the print order control number is associated with the object (S312). On the other hand, when the order is not recorded (No in S310), the print order determination unit 31d records as a new print order in the printing device order recording unit (S313), and associates the print order management number with the object (S314). ).

When it is determined that there is no overlap in the print range (No in S307) or there is no overlap in the drawing range after rendering (No in S308), the color material of the object is attached to the print order determination unit 31d. The printing device 40 is specified (S315), and the printing order management number of the printing device 40 is acquired from the printing device order recording unit (S316). Next, the print order determination unit 31d determines whether or not a plurality of print order control numbers exist for the same printing device 40 (S317), and if a plurality of print order control numbers do not exist (No in S317). , The print order control number is associated with the object (S318), and when a plurality of print order control numbers exist (Yes in S317), the print order control number with the earliest print order is associated with the object (S319). That is, a plurality of objects that do not overlap and can be output by the same printing device 40 are set in the same printing order.

For example, when printing the first object with K toner, printing the second object overlapping with the first object with G toner, and printing the third object overlapping with the second object with K toner, the first When the 1st object and the 3rd object are printed by the same printing device 40, the printing order control numbers 1 and 3 exist in the printing device 40, but they do not overlap with the 1st to 3rd objects with K toner. When printing the fourth object, the print order control number 1 having the earliest print order is associated with the fourth object. In S319, the earliest print order control number is associated, but which print order control number is associated may be changed by user setting, such as associating the latest print order control number.

Further, in FIG. 14, the same processing is performed for all objects, but when "Auto Select" is specified, an object list of only "Auto Select" is generated, and which of the subsequent processing is performed. The printing device 40 determines whether to output. Then, after processing the object other than Auto Select, the processing may be performed on the object of only "Auto Select".

[Construction of additional printing workflow and execution of printing]
FIG. 14 is an example of the reprint workflow construction screen 63 of the workflow application. After dividing the print job for each print order, the workflow is constructed according to the print order. FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing a workflow construction process by the workflow application, which is executed by the workflow application (print instruction unit 31e).

First, the printing order is acquired from the printing device order recording unit (S401). Next, the print order workflow is constructed by arranging the printing device 40 in the workflow in the workflow application according to the acquired print order (see the schematic diagram of the print column in the lower center of FIG. 14 in S402). Next, a thumbnail image of the divided job is created (see the image in the job distribution column on the lower left side of FIG. 14 in S403), and a reprint thumbnail image superimposed in each printing order is created (S404, lower in FIG. 14). See the image in the print field in the center of the side). Then, the created reprint thumbnail image is displayed near the printing device 40 arranged in the workflow (S405).

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a print execution process by the workflow application, which is executed by the workflow application (print instruction unit 31e).

If the user instructs you to print, change the print status of the job during execution. Next, 1 is set in N (S501), and it is determined whether the banner page is specified in the print settings (S502). When a banner page is specified (Yes in S502), a banner page for the Nth unit is generated (S503), and a split job (or a split job and a banner page job) is transmitted to the Nth printing device 40. (S504). Next, the split job is transmitted as a save job to the N + 1th printing device 40 (S505). Alternatively, after acquiring the print status of the printing device 40 in the previous stage and confirming that the division job in the previous stage has been completed, the division job is transmitted to the next printing device 40.

Then, it is determined whether the printing of the Nth printing device 40 is completed (S506), and when the printing of the Nth printing device 40 is completed (Yes in S506), the additional printing by the next printing device 40 is performed. It is determined whether or not there is (S507). If there is a reprint on the next printing device 40 (Yes in S507), add 1 to N (S508), return to S502 and repeat the same process, and when the reprint printing is completed on all the printing devices. (No in S507), the job status is changed to completed, and a series of processes is completed.

When transmitting the split job, the print instruction unit 31e is among the print objects whose print order is earlier when the print object whose print order is later is not a transparent object with respect to the print objects determined to have overlap. A split job that is excluded from the print target can be generated for the overlapping portion of.

As described above, in the printing system 10 of the present embodiment, the acquired print job is analyzed, the overlap of a plurality of print objects is determined, and the print order of the plurality of print objects is determined based on the determined overlap. By generating and outputting a split job that instructs printing of each print object based on the determined print order, even if the print job requires additional printing, the user's work is not complicated. , You can instruct printing in the proper order.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and its configuration and control can be appropriately changed as long as the gist of the present invention is not deviated.

For example, in the above embodiment, the GSBW toner is exemplified as the special color toner, but any toner that expresses a color other than CMYK may be used. Toner or the like can be used.

The present invention can be used as a job management device in a printing system that performs additional printing, a job management method in the job management device, a job management program that operates in the job management device, and a recording medium that records the job management program.

10 Printing system 20 Submission data generation terminal 21 Control unit 21a OS
21b Manuscript creation application 21c Printer driver 22 CPU
23 ROM
24 RAM
25 Storage unit 26 Network I / F unit 27 Display unit 28 Operation unit 30 Output instruction terminal 31 Control unit 31a Table creation unit 31b Job acquisition unit 31c Overlap determination unit 31d Print order determination unit 31e Print instruction unit 32 CPU
33 ROM
34 RAM
35 Storage unit 36 Network I / F unit 37 Display unit 38 Operation unit 40 Printing device 41 Control unit 42 CPU
43 ROM
44 RAM
45 Storage unit 46 Network I / F unit 47 Display operation unit 48 Image processing unit 49 Image formation unit 50 Communication network 60 Print setting screen 61 Shared printer setting screen 62 Printing device addition screen 63 Overprint workflow construction screen

Claims (16)

The job acquisition section that acquires print jobs and
An overlap determination unit that analyzes the acquired print job and determines the overlap of a plurality of print objects included in the print job.
A print order determination unit that determines the print order of the plurality of print objects based on the determined overlap.
A print instruction unit for generating and outputting a division job instructing printing of each print object based on the determined print order is provided.
A job management device characterized by this. The overlap determination unit extracts the print range of each of the print objects, and determines that the print objects overlap when the print ranges overlap.
The job management device according to claim 1. Even if the print ranges of the print objects overlap, the overlap determination unit determines that the print objects do not overlap if the drawing ranges after rendering do not overlap.
The job management device according to claim 2. It further includes a table creation unit that acquires color material information of each printing device and creates a table that associates the printing device with the color material.
The job management device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the job management device is characterized by the above. The table creation unit collectively acquires the color material information of the printing device assigned to the virtual printer or hot folder that can be shared on the network for each virtual printer or hot folder.
The job management device according to claim 4. The overlap determination unit determines whether the color material used for printing the print object is a color material other than CMYK from the spot color setting or the description content of the print job, and based on the determination result, the print object. Is classified by printing device, and the classified print objects are compared with each other.
The job management device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the job management device is characterized by the above. When the print object printed by one printing device and the print object printed by another printing device overlap, the overlap determination unit determines that the print objects overlap.
The job management device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the job management device is characterized by the above. In the print order determination unit, when there are a plurality of printing devices equipped with the same color material and a print object having a single color of the color material exists in the print job, the print object overlaps with another print object. In the case, the printing device that prints the print object is specified based on the stacking order of the print objects.
The job management device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the job management device is characterized by the above. The print order determination unit sets a plurality of print objects that do not overlap and can be output by the same printing device in the same print order.
The job management device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the job management device is characterized by the above. The print instruction unit displays a print workflow representing the determined print order, and displays a preview of the output result in each printing device in the print workflow.
The job management device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the job management device is characterized by the above. When instructing a plurality of printing devices to print, the print instruction unit outputs the division job to the printing device in the subsequent stage after the division job in the printing device in the previous stage is completed.
The job management device according to any one of claims 1 to 10. When instructing a plurality of printing devices to print, the print instruction unit outputs the divided job as a save job to the subsequent printing device.
The job management device according to any one of claims 1 to 10. The print instruction unit outputs a banner page job indicating which printing device is used for additional printing.
The job management device according to any one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that. When the print object whose print order is later is not a transparent object with respect to the print object determined to have overlap, the print instruction unit may display the overlap portion in the print object whose print order is earlier. Generate the split job excluded from the print target,
The job management device according to any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein the job management device is characterized by the above. It is a job management method in the job management device that manages print jobs.
The job acquisition process for acquiring the print job and
An overlap determination process that analyzes the acquired print job and determines the overlap of a plurality of print objects included in the print job.
A print order determination process for determining the print order of the plurality of print objects based on the determined overlap, and a print order determination process.
Based on the determined print order, a print instruction process for generating and outputting a split job instructing printing of each print object is executed.
A job management method characterized by that. A job management program that runs on the job management device that manages print jobs.
In the control unit of the job management device,
Job acquisition process for acquiring the print job,
An overlap determination process that analyzes the acquired print job and determines the overlap of a plurality of print objects included in the print job.
A print order determination process for determining the print order of the plurality of print objects based on the determined overlap.
Based on the determined print order, the print instruction process for generating and outputting a split job instructing the printing of each print object is executed.
A job management program characterized by this.

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